The Marriage Law Project at The Catholic University of America

TOP6NEWS - Date 4.8.05

1-NEWS: House OKs dp bill in MD
2-NEWS: NAACP chair says 'gay rights are civil rights'

3-NEWS: U.K. lesbian wins landmark visitation case

4-NEWS: Battle coming on CUs in CT

5-NEWS: Canada, Spain set to legalize ssm; Sweden, South Africa pending

6-NEWS: KS m amendment raises ss adoption question

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1-NEWS: House OKs dp bill in MD

House OKs rights for unmarried couples in Md.
Bill two votes shy of being veto-proof; Senate passed a version last month By Sumathi Reddy Baltimore Sun Staff
April 8, 2005
After two days of fierce debate, the House of Delegates passed a sweeping measure yesterday that would give an array of benefits - including medical decision-making rights - to unmarried couples, putting the legislation a step closer to the governor's desk.
The 83-50 vote - two short of being veto-proof - came after sometimes-emotional arguments, including a declaration from Del. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. that passage of the bill would personally benefit him and his longtime partner.
"If he is in the hospital, why should I have to stand at the door waiting for his mother or father to call the hospital and say, 'Let him in?'" the Montgomery County Democrat asked. "I don't want my partner to have to sit in a room with strangers and face a medical emergency alone. ...
"I cannot believe you find me so repulsive, you find my life so repulsive, you find the lives of tens of thousands of your constituents so repulsive," Madaleno added, in a response to critics who have called the bill an opening for supporters of same-sex marriage.

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2-NEWS: NAACP chair says 'gay rights are civil rights'

NAACP chair says ‘gay rights are civil rights’
By EARTHA MELZER
Washington Blade
Dr. Julian Bond, chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was awarded Equality Virginia’s Equality Commonwealth Award in Richmond on April 2 and delivered a speech affirming gay rights as civil rights.
The theme of the evening was “ordinary rights, an extraordinary night.”
“African Americans ... were the only Americans who were enslaved for two centuries, but we were far from the only Americans suffering discrimination then and now,” Bond said. “Sexual disposition parallels race. I was born this way. I have no choice. I wouldn’t change it if I could. Sexuality is unchangeable.”
With more than 1,200 in attendance, organizers said that this event was the largest gathering of gay men and lesbians and their supporters in Virginia in memory.
Acknowledging that compared to some other areas of Virginia, Richmond is seen as hostile to gay and lesbian rights, Molly McClintock, of Equality Virginia said, “We are in Richmond because the fight is in Richmond.”
The capitol of the Confederacy that fought for the right to hold slaves, Richmond is shaping up as the site of a major battle over whether the state will be allowed to discriminate against gays. Equality Virginia said that in a survey comparing gay-friendly laws in the 50 states and D.C., Virginia ranked 49, behind only Alabama and Oklahoma.

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3-NEWS: U.K. lesbian wins landmark visitation case

U.K. lesbian wins landmark visitation case United Press International

Posted on 08 April 2005

World News, LONDON: A British lesbian has won the right to visit her former lover's biological children in a landmark legal victory for same-sex relationships.
The deputy head of the Family Division reversed a ruling Thursday made at Telford County Court last November when it denied a joint residence order to the first partner, the Times of London reported Friday.

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4-NEWS: Battle coming on CUs in CT

Civil Unions passage may be slowed, poll shows support

By SUSAN HAIGH
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Legislation allowing same-sex civil unions in Connecticut may have sailed through the Senate, but opponents warned Thursday they're not ready to give up.
If they can't kill the bill in the House of Representatives, there are plans to pressure Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell to veto the proposal. A rally is planned on April 24 at the state Capitol to oppose civil unions and organizers are promising 25,000 people.
"I don't see it as a done deal at all," said Brian Brown, president of the Family Institute of Connecticut.
The state Senate voted 27-9 on Wednesday in favor of the bill which would give gay and lesbian couples the same rights as married couples, but not a marriage license. Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, predicted the bill will pass in the House, possibly as early as next week.
Lawlor estimated that about 90 out of the 151 House members support the legislation. But opponents claim those numbers depend on whether the bill is amended to define marriage in Connecticut statutes as being between a man and a woman.
Rell reiterated Thursday she supports such an amendment.

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5-NEWS: Canada, Spain set to legalize ssm; Sweden, South Africa pending

Canada, Spain set to legalize gay marriage Sweden, South Africa also weighing equal marriage measures

Washington Blade

By DYANA BAGBY Friday, April 08, 2005

While efforts to ban gay marriage continue to gain steam in the United States, countries spanning the globe stand poised to legalize marriage or other forms of official recognition for same-sex couples.
Last year, 13 U.S. states passed constitutional amendments defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. This year, 21 states are considering similar ballot measures.
But the anti-gay marriage backlash festering in the United States is not taking root in countries such as Canada, Spain, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
“There is a huge momentum now, and we’re at the point with a lot of countries where the people who feel opposed to gay marriage feel compelled to support civil unions as a fallback position,” said Douglas Elliott, a Canadian gay rights attorney and president of the International Lesbian & Gay Law Association.
“We’ve shifted the center of debate in most places,” he said.

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6-NEWS: KS m amendment raises ss adoption question

Posted on Fri, Apr. 08, 2005
Passage of marriage amendment raises adoption concerns JOHN HANNA Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. - With new language in the Kansas Constitution banning marriage and civil unions for same-sex couples, some activists fearing they will soon face legislative efforts to ban adoptions by gays and lesbians.
While no such proposal has been introduced, one could find some legislative support.
Voters' approval this week of a constitutional amendment on marriage did have supporters considering other issues, such trying to reduce divorce.
But gay rights activists have worried for weeks that a bill to prohibit gays and lesbians from adopting children would surface. Tom Witt, a field organizer for Equality Kansas, a Wichita gay rights group, said Thursday that he expects such a proposal next year.

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